Allright, so they send a league-minimum paid goon to take out mister $6,000,000 a year superstar. Superstar misses an even 12 months with a concussion and the league suspends mr. goon for that duration.
Yeah, that is very abuseable. But how about this. Since it's obviously a willful act, penalize the team, and penalize the team harshly. So lets say this happened in the first game of the year. Both the goon and the superstar are out a year, but to make things even, the offending team has their cap space immediately reduced by the injured players cap hit. That means if the team is playing near the cap, they are suddenly oh, 5 million over, and they have 2 games to become compliant by either waiving, trading, or sending someone big and important down to the minors, with a special no-waiver vulnerability exemption on both the trip down, and the trip back up when the cap space comes back.
What happens if its a superstar taking out another superstar? Well then no further penalty need be applied other than the suspension.
So, now the superstar goes down for 12 months, the goon is suspended for 12 months, and the offending team is reduced in relative player strength by the superstars cap hit. Is it harsh? Very harsh, especially for the player or players forced down into the minors during the suspension. Maybe we give them a "trade me or waive me" veto on being able to be sent down to the minors so they can spend the year with some other team. But it's a lot more fair than the current system.